Hypocritical Parent
by Lucy Labrador
Summary: Shadow is always quick to punnish his daughter, Bless for her misbehaviour at school. What he doesn't realise is that he is about to realise that he is about to prove to his family that he can act no better than her when a visit to the school goes wrong. T for Swearing.
1. Chapter 1

**Hypocritical Parent**

**Chapter 1**

**For those of you who have read What A Long Hard Life and remember it, this will be easy to understand. This is a story that involves Shadow's family but think of it as a story line without Iblis being released, so their lives carry on as usual with no disaster.**

Bless got home from school feeling miserable, she had a horrible feeling inside, deep inside her gut she was nervous, she was late because of her after school detention and she knew that when her father knew, she'd be in deep trouble.

Because she was so much like her father, physically as well as psychologically, she looked a lot like him, as well as act like him. She was mischievous and grumpy, it was in her genes, it was Shadow's fault that the young teen got into a lot of trouble at her secondary school, but Shadow never took Bless' gene's excuse and punished her anyway.

Bless stepped inside and tried to close the door as slowly and as silently as she could, so that no one could hear her therefore be unable to confront her. She cautiously walked upstairs and into her bedroom, put her stuff down and went into the kitchen to get something to eat.

Her mother, Maria was there, sitting at the table, looking concerned. "You're late home again Bless?" she said in a soft and caring voice.

"Yes... I got into trouble again." Bless sighed. "Is dad home?" she whispered worriedly.

"No... I think you're lucky this time, what did you do?" Maria asked.

"I... punched one of the boys who were annoying me." Bless said anxiously. Maria gasped, this was serious.

"I know it's hard to keep your temper under control Bless, but you must not result to violence." Maria said sternly and assertive.

"I'm sorry Mum, I know." Bless said in frustration, her voice raised as she started to plead. "Please don't tell Dad, please!" She cried out.

"Don't tell me what?"

Bless froze at the sound of the masculine, serious voice that had just come from the door way of the kitchen. She turned around in fear, he was there. Shadow was looking at Bless ominously, almost as if he couldn't wait to punish her.

"Well Bless?" Shadow asked with his arms folded, waiting patiently to hear what Bless had done.

"I was... kept behind at school today... because... I hurt someone." Bless said in a nervous and very quiet voice. Shadow walked up to her, a look of disapproval on his face.

"Go to your room, Bless." he said darkly, looking down on her, Bless could see the shadows on his face as the light shone down on the back of his head, unable to get to the front. Bless tiptoed past him and sped upstairs. Shadow could hear her running up the stairs, her feet were banging against them as she rushed. "I'm adding another week to your punishment!" he called after he out of the kitchen door.

Bless could feel tears stinging in her eyes, she would be grounded for another extra week, but she couldn't help it, this would never stop.

Shadow stood in the kitchen and waited for his lecture from Maria. "Shadow, you know that this isn't the right way to get her to stop." Maria said. "I think you're just making it worse." she warned.

Shadow was silent, he left ashamed, but he wouldn't stop his methods of parenting, after all, this type of punishment worked for Shade, Bless' older brother, the one who behaved, the one he missed, he had grown up and moved out already. Shadow sat down at the table, put his elbows on it and rested his head in his hands, it looked as if he was trying to cope with a migraine, then again, Bless could be a migraine sometimes.

"I know what I'll do, Maria, I'll go into school with Bless tomorrow and speak to the head teacher... and sort something out." he sighed and looked up at her. "Some therapy for Bless, parenting advice for me, anything." Shadow said sincerely, as if he was trying to desperately gain approval.

So the next day, when Bless came down for breakfast and sat opposite her father, still looking sorry for herself, Shadow spoke to her. "Bless, I understand that you have a problem, and I think it's time to sort it out." Shadow said seriously. This made Bless look uneasy, she knew that when words like this came out of Shadow's mouth, bad things were to happen to her.

What she didn't know was that Shadow was taking a different approach this time, she wouldn't be punished, she would be helped. "I'm going into school today to speak to your head teacher and I will find a way to help you." Shadow said honestly. Bless was no longer looked worried, she was surprised.

"Really?" Bless said in hope, then she looked unconvinced, "This was mum's idea, wasn't it?" Bless said in disbelief.

"No! I swear, this is my idea, I want to help you!" Shadow exclaimed desperately, wanting Bless to trust him. "I swear..."

"Okay..." she sighed and finished her breakfast. "I'll get ready and you can come with me to school." Bless said and went upstairs to get dressed.

"I hope this works..." Shadow groaned, looking stressed again.

Bless took Shadow to her school, he didn't even know where the secondary school was yet, that was how involved he was with her school life, he knew nothing, he'd not stepped foot in any school since parents evening in primary school and he'd not had any education since his life on the ARK.

They stepped inside, Shadow didn't like the atmosphere, there were too many people around and he hated crowds, he especially hated the fact that some of the students looked older than him, due to his agelessness. This was a school full of Mobians, there were no sign of humans, this put Shadow at ease slightly, until they reached the Head Teacher's office.

The head master was a human, tall and fearless looking, quite old and he looked slightly familiar. "Dad, this is Mr Towers, the headteacher." Bless said as she went into the office with Shadow. Shadow tensed up, 'Towers', that was the surname of The Commander he hated so much. That was why he looked familiar, this man resembled The Commander, he must have been a brother or a cousin of him since he seemed to be roughly the same age, with his greying hair and bold look.

"What do you want?" He asked sounding grumpy while sitting at his desk.

"I uh... brought my dad in to speak to you." Bless said timidly.

"At last... I asked this of you a month ago." Mr Towers grumbled. Bless turned to Shadow with worried and pleading eyes.

"And... why didn't I know about this?" Shadow hissed, anger in his eyes. Bless just gulped and sat down in one of the chairs that was facing the Head's desk.

"Well then Bless, your friend here can leave... where is your father?" The Head teacher asked. Shadow gave a nervous laugh, this was going to be awkward.

"I... am her father." Shadow said while clearing his throat. The head teacher's eyes narrowed at Bless and then Shadow.

"You should know by now Bless, that I don't like jokes." Mr Towers said seriously.

"But, this isn't a joke, I AM her father." Shadow said sounding frustrated.

"That's it boy, what's your name!" The head yelled, getting up from his chair and banging his hand against his desk, Bless cringed at his anger.

"Shadow, Shadow the Hedgehog." Shadow snarled.

"I've not heard the name before at this school, where do you learn?" he asked.

"Nowhere, I don't go to school." Shadow said sounding offended.

"You look too young to have left school... have you ever been to school?" Towers asked, interestedly.

"No... and before you get any ideas, I don't need to." Shadow said strongly.

"But it's the law here to go to school until the age of 18 and you... _boy_... are not of age." Towers said while walking over to him and stopping in front of him. Shadow then felt nervous, the man was tall and quite threatening. "I think you'll fit in well here." he said and walked over to his desk. "Shadow, welcome to Station Square Secondary School." he said. "I will be seeing you tomorrow at 8:30am sharp." he demanded. "I'll put you in the same class as Bless here, so she can show you around the school."

Shadow's mouth gaped open, he had been signed up for school, even worse, the same school his own daughter was in, the same _class_ that she was in. Shadow had never felt so ashamed and embarrassed.

"And you... young lady... I had better see one of your _real_ parents soon or there will be _big_ trouble." Mr Towers threatened. Then the two of them left the office, eager to get away from him.

"Dad, you'd better go home... I'll see you after school." Bless sighed and went off to her classroom. Shadow promptly found his way out of the school, trying to think of a way that he would be able to break the news to Maria.

Bless was home late again that day, Shadow was waiting impatiently for her in the kitchen, when he heard the front door go his ears pricked up as he realised that she was home. After a few minutes Bless came into the room sheepishly, Shadow had a look on his face which meant he was demanding an explanation.

"Dad, please don't punish me for this one." Bless pleaded. "It wasn't my fault!" she exclaimed.

"Why were you kept behind today?" Shadow asked.

"Because I took in a 'fake' parent." Bless said nervously. Then Shadow was furious, Bless had been wrongly kept behind today.

"Fucking human..." Shadow hissed.

"So... are you going to forget about it?" Bless asked hopefully.

"Yes, you're exempt from today's punishment." Shadow sighed, Bless then left the room eagerly. Shadow put his elbows on the table and rest his head in it again, in frustration. He had a strong feeling that he would see exactly why Bless was always in trouble, and that perhaps it wasn't the poor girl's fault.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hypocritical Parent**

**Chapter 2**

The next morning, Shadow was up for school early. Luckily, there was no school uniform so he could go in his usual outfit of gloves and shoes. He had a rucksack with various things needed for school inside of it, just like Bless. "Dad, it's time to leave! We're running late! Towers will go crazy if were not in his office by 8:30! It's 8:25 already! Oh my chaos! We're in so much trouble!" Bless exclaimed, panicking.

Shadow grabbed her shoulders and stopped her panick. "Bless! Calm down, we will not be late. I'll get you to school on time!" Shadow yelled to snap her out of it.

"How?" Bless asked, worry still in her voice. Shadow reached into his pocket and produced his green chaos emerald to Bless.

"With chaos control. We won't be late, we'll be five minutes early." Shadow said, he held Bless' arm with one hand and his emerald in the other. "Chaos Control!"

"Don't forget your-" Maria **(A/N: Who is a hedgehog BTW)** came into the hallway yelling. "Lunches?" she stopped when she realised that they were gone already, she looked to the door confusedly, they were gone and she hadn't even heard it open or close.

Shadow and Bless were now in the main hallway near the main entrance of the school. With chaos emerald in hand, Shadow turned towards the direction of the head teacher's office, but before the two of them even had a chance to start heading there, Mr Towers showed up anyway. "Ah, you're here right on time!" he said in delight, as though it was time for the torture of school to begin. The smile went when he saw Shadow's emerald. "Is that a valuable possession, Shadow?" he asked, looking at it.

Shadow's head nodded slightly, not entirely sure whether the emerald should be classed as a valuable possession or not. Without warning Mr Towers yanked it out of Shadow's hand and put it in his pocket. Shadow's mouth gaped open and he stood there in shock. "I'm confiscating this for your own good and keeping it in my office." he said. "Drop by my office after school and you can have this back at the end of the day." He said and walked off.

Bless looked at her father with concern, now he looked miserable. "Bless... how long until classes start?" Shadow asked in a low and miserable voice while looking down at the floor.

"F-fifteen minutes." Bless stuttered.

"Meet me back here in ten minutes." he sighed and made his way out of the building, not making eye contact with anyone, sulking, he found a place to hide.

The despaired hedgehog went to the back of the school and hid in a corner where the building was at a right angle, shielded from the sun and hidden in darkness, Shadow sat down in the corner facing the wall to sulk.

Shadow was secluded from the rest of the school, he would spend all of the time he could here. However, he wasn't expecting anyone to show up and disturb him in his emo corner. Shadow froze when he heard many footsteps that sounded as if it belonged to a group, then Shadow heard a voice. "Oh look, it's one of us." came a low, miserable voice from an older sounding male.

Shadow tensed up, stood and turned around. "Hello there... new friend." came the voice again. Shadow could see a group of five, all dressed in black with patches of fur dyed black, mostly on the heads. The group was of a range of ages by the looks of it, there were for males and one female. Shadow then realised that his new little emo corner, was literally an emo corner, belonging to real emos.

"N-no. I'm not one of you." Shadow said in panick. "This is a mistake... I'm just sulking!" he exclaimed.

"We all do that too... along with writing poetry." the only female said from the back of the group as they got closer to him, their faces covered in black and white makeup, ready to devour Shadow's soul. Shadow's eyes widened as he backed up against the wall.

"I don't do that! I don't write anything, leave me alone!" Shadow exclaimed, he pushed past them and ran off to the front of the school again to meet Bless, he decided that he would never return there again.

"You're back early." Bless pointed out when Shadow came running through the doors of the main entrance. "Where did you go?" she asked.

"Don't even ask." Shadow said strongly through gritted teeth, so Bless gave up on trying to find out.

"Let's head off to registration before we're late." Bless said and started to walk amongst the crowds. Shadow nearly lost his daughter within them, something every parent seriously feared doing. Normally this was for the sake of the child, but today it was for the sake of the parent, if Shadow lost Bless, he would be in trouble.

Nevertheless, Bless got Shadow to their form room on time. Bless sat at the middle of the front row, while Shadow was given a space at the side of the room, a row behind her. Shadow noticed that the teacher at the front of the class was also human... it was as though all figures of authority of humans, something that sickened the dark hedgehog.

Shadow felt so awkward, sitting in the same class as his daughter, he felt as though he couldn't feel worse but he was wrong, Bless was feeling worse than him. She was sitting in front of her father in school and she knew that he was watching her, she could _feel_ it. She could picture his stare that was strong enough to penetrate diamonds, watching her every move.

Five minutes into the lectures from the form tutor, Bless began to daydream, so the teacher gave a light bang in her desk to catch her attention. Bless felt awful, she had a strong feeling that she would not only get a telling off from her teacher, but from her father as well.

Sitting in his seat behind Bless and noticing that had happened, Shadow didn't blame Bless for not paying attention. They weren't even learning anything yet, this wasn't a real lesson and it was boring the _immortal_ ultimate life form to death.

When the bell rang for first lesson Bless walked out of the classroom, waiting for Shadow to glare at her or say something to her, but she got nothing from him. She gave an interior and mental sigh, she wasn't in trouble.

For this very boring chemistry lesson, Shadow was made to sit by Bless, something that the both of them found very uncomfortable. The class was made to do an experiment which involved dangerous chemicals, which was okay since they were taught about safety in the lab and how to avoid accidents. However, there is always someone who doesn't listen or who would rather be a rebel and not do as they're told.

As Shadow put one of the beakers of chemicals onto a tripod, one of the boys from the other groups walked past the table and knocked it with his hand. Shadow's noticed this, the beaker was tipping, ready to fall right onto Bless. Shadow gave a warning yell then jumped in front of her, his back facing towards the mess that was about to fall all over him. "Dad, what are you-"

Shadow shut his eyes tightly, waiting for the pain to come, he felt it splash onto him, but it just felt like water. Once Shadow saw that it was safe he turned and looked at the aftermath. "Oh my goodness! Shadow, are you alright?" the teacher yelled and ran over to him.

"Hmph... of course. This doesn't even hurt." Shadow said in a monotone voice.

"Go to the school nurse immediately and get it washed off professionally, if you don't get of removed now, it _will_ hurt." She said with a warning.

"Hmph... fine. Before I go, you should know that it was _that_ menace there that did this." Shadow said with a growl and pointed to the boy who had a smirk on his face, the smirk that quickly went when he had been found out. The teacher was furious.

Bless led Shadow to the school nurse. Shadow grumbled as he was pulled along by his daughter. "Come on Dad, this is serious!" Bless complained at Shadow's lack of speed, he didn't seem bothered.

"That human has underestimated me. These weak chemicals won't hurt me." Shadow said arrogantly.

"They're not burning you now, but they're corrosive, they'll make you itch or even worse, slowly peel through your fur and skin." Bless exclaimed and pulled him along.

"Sounds serious. That trouble maker had better get a suitable punishment." Shadow grumbled.

"Dad! You're more worried about the boy than you are yourself!" Bless exclaimed angrily. Shadow gritted his teeth in anger and began to growl.

"He needs to learn a lesson, if he isn't punished by those pathetic humans then I'm going to take it into my own hands!" Shadow said furiously. Bless became uneasy, her father was angry, this was enough to make her run for her life, but she had a duty to take the 'new kid' to the school nurse.

Bless finally got him to the school nurse and pushed Shadow inside. While Shadow was in there he explained what had happened to him. While standing outside of the nurse's office Bless heard a masculine scream come from inside of it, whatever the nurse was doing to Shadow, it was painful. "You should have gotten here quicker then shouldn't you? Hold still!" Bless heard the nurse say.

Shadow came out five minutes later looking embarrassed and upset. "Damn human... doesn't care about the pain I'm in." Shadow grumbled as he stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him.

"W-what did she do?" Bless asked. Shadow's eyes jolted in her direction and narrowed.

"Rubbed this stuff on my back where the chemicals hit me. It was supposed to soothe or heal or something... it hurt like hell since the chemicals were already irritating my skin." Shadow said, gritting his teeth as he remembered the pain. "I swear, I'm going to teach that kid a lesson, that could have been you, Bless." Shadow said furiously with slight concern when he realised that it could have been his child in that agonising situation.

All of a sudden, Bless hugged him tightly, without warning. Shadow gave a grunt as he was squeezed tightly but then he accepted the embrace. "Thanks dad." she said sincerely.

"No need to thank me. It was just my instincts." Shadow said softly as she pulled away from him.

Shadow and Bless walked back into the classroom, Shadow had a raving look on his face, he was ready for his revenge. "So, has the trouble maker been dealt with?" Shadow said viciously.

"Yes, I've given him a detention." the teacher said. Shadow gave a 'hmph' and sat down in his seat again. By then everyone had finished their experiments and everything was packed away.

"I don't think that's enough of a punishment." Shadow said under his breath, he knew what he would be doing this break time.

When they were let out for break, Shadow was the first to leave the classroom since he rushed out, he made his way outside and waited for his prey to follow after him. The vengeful hedgehog waited by the door that the class was coming out of. Once the mobian boy came out of the door Shadow grabbed him and pushed him against the wall.

The dark red and brown mobian canine no longer had a mischievous look on his face, he was terrified. "Why did you try to hurt Bless?" Shadow yelled in his face while he held his shoulders firmly against the wall.

"I wasn't trying to hurt her in particular, I swear! I just wanted to annoy someone!" he cried out.

"Annoy? I was in agony!" Shadow hissed. "If that had happened to Bless..." he said in a sinister voice. "You would wish you were never born..." he threatened.

The boy cowered in fear and cried out for help. Unfortunately for Shadow, someone did come to the boy's aid. "What are you doing rodent?" came Mr Tower's voice. Suddenly it went dark as his tall figure blocked out of the sun, Shadow turned around, not taking his arms off of the boy, he didn't look bothered about getting caught.

"He needs to be taught a lesson. He tried to hurt Bless, he got me instead, spilled dangerous chemicals all over me." Shadow growled in anger at him.

"I was given a detention." the boy said timidly. "I have to stay behind after school now."

"Not. Good. Enough." Shadow said each word slowly through gritted teeth.

"Shadow, his punishment's been dealt, and I think yours should be too. There must be no violence in this school." Mr Towers said. "Come with me to my office." he told Shadow. The dark hedgehog let go of the boy and followed my Towers inside.

Shadow was made to go into his office and he was given an after school detention, Bless found out about this as Shadow came outside near the end of break. "Oh my chaos... you are in so much trouble Dad." Bless said. "When I get home, I am so telling mum and I hope she grounds _you_ for weeks on end." she said viciously and walked off ahead of him.

Shadow sighed and followed her, keeping a distance. He didn't want to lose her completely, he didn't know where the next lesson would be.

**Sorry for the slow updates, my netbook is broken so I'm using my brother's whenever I can instead. **

**Lucy Labrador**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hypocritical Parent**

**Chapter 3**

**Thank you for the support for this story that has come in the form of many reviews, favourites and alerts.**

At the end of school that day, Shadow went to the head teacher's office to collect his emerald. Bless was on her way home, she couldn't wait to tell Maria about Shadow getting into trouble, it was time for some sweet revenge, she knew about her parent's relationship and she knew that Maria had somewhat of a motherly control over him. Shadow would be punished for being bad in school and coming home late from detention.

Shadow was hoping deep down, that Mr Towers had forgotten about the detention, or Shadow would be let off since this was his first day. Shadow walked into the office acting as if there was no detention and asked for his emerald. "Not yet, Shadow. You need to go to the hall for detention, then you can have your emerald." Mr Towers said and pointed to the door.

Shadow sighed, looked down and sulked, then left the room to go and find the hall. It wouldn't be too hard to find since it was one of the most important rooms in the school. It didn't take him long, he got there to find that a miserable and old-looking male, human teacher was in the front watching over a dozen students, including the boy who had tried to hurt Bless.

Shadow gave a sadistic smirk at the boy and then sat down far away from him. As he sat down, he heard a deep growl, and by the looks of it, so did the teacher at the front, since it looked as though he was looking around to see where the noise had come from. Shadow's cheeks turned a deep red when he realised that it was him, his stomach was rumbling, it wanted food. He hadn't brought a packed lunch or money with him, so he had to skip lunch. This would be okay if it weren't for the fact that Shadow had to stay at the end of the day.

Shadow would have to spend a whole hour in the dimly hall, sitting on a single desk, with a squeaky chair, doing nothing. It had been two minutes and he was bored out of his mind. Not only did he feel bored, but he felt guilty too. He realised that detention was a lot worse than it sounded, so perhaps the extra punishments that he was imposing on Bless were wrongly given. He would take them back as soon as he saw her.

By the time all of the detention students were dismissed, Shadow had fallen asleep, he was woken up by the sound or a loud and sudden, 'WHACK'. Shadow's head jolted up from his desk and he looked up in shock to see the teacher standing there with a ruler. "Detention is over, hedgehog." he said firmly. There were a few spiteful sniggers from the youths leaving the room. Shadow groggily picked up his bag from under the table and left.

When Shadow got home, using chaos control, he walked into the kitchen looking tired and miserable. What made him even more miserable was seeing Bless was tucking into a pizza, Shadow's favourite meal. Maria was standing by one of the side counters looking very cross. "So Shadow, you've been bad today, I hear." Maria said.

Shadow began to feel nervous. "I... couldn't help myself. You know how my temper is." Shadow said while rubbing the back of his neck and sweating slightly. Maria wasn't amused nor convinced.

"_You_ will be sleeping on the sofa tonight." she said and left the room in a huff. Shadow sighed and sat down at the table, looking as though he was having another of his migraines.

"Told you." Bless teased and carried on eating. Shadow was tempted to show her who was boss and that she couldn't speak to him like that, but he knew it was pointless.

"Bless... I... think I've been a bit harsh on you these past few years." Shadow said nervously, he was finding it hard to speak. "I think that from now on, when you get an after school detention, that'll be enough to punish you."

"Finally realised how bad it is?" Bless asked with attitude. Shadow nodded.

"And... I'm taking off all of your punishments. You're no longer grounded." Shadow sighed. Bless smiled and leant over to hug him.

"Thanks." she said while she had her arms around him.

It had gone silent, there was no noise apart from Shadow's stomach. The hungry hedgehog pulled away and went to make himself something to eat, he looked in the freezer hoping there would be a pizza in there. There were none, Bless had eaten the last one. Shadow felt like crying, he would have to eat something else.

Since Bless was ungrounded she went out to see her friends for the first time in months. Shadow stayed in and sulked, Maria wasn't paying attention to him and he was craving a pizza which he couldn't have. "So this is the life of a student." Shadow sighed while sitting on the sofa in the silent living room. "I should arrange to get Bless out of school if it's really this bad." he added. "Then again, Towers did say that it was the law that all kids had to go to school until the age of 18..." he groaned.

Shadow sat in silence, thinking to himself again, which reminded him, "How am I going to get through the rest of school if I'm this fed up after one day?" he said and growled in frustration. Then he realised that it was friday, he wouldn't have to worry about school for another two days!

That saturday afternoon Shadow went out to the nearest pub to meet up with 'the guys', who were just Sonic, Rush and Shade. He was nervous because he would have to tell them about the embarrassing happenings of the previous couple of days. The miserable hedgehog walked into his usual pub and looked for people he knew, he could see Shade in the corner of the room, with his black fur, short blonde head hair and casual clothes, sitting and waiting for others to arrive. Shadow ran over to him, "Shade!" he yelled, sounding happy to see him, after experiencing the terror's of his daughter, he was relieved to see his well-behaved son.

"Dad." Shade said. "You look like you've been through a rough week."

Shadow sighed and nodded. "It's a long story... I'll tell it when the others are here." Shadow said solemnly. Then they turned around to see Sonic and Rush walk through the door, the two blue hedgehog's strolled in looking confident. Both of them wearing read shoes and white gloves. Sonic was a little taller and had a . Shadow sighed. "Sonic... you need to grow up... you're too old for that style." Shadow grumbled at him.

"Am not!" Sonic complained. "I would say the same for you if it weren't for your immortality." he added and folded his arms.

They all sat down in the corner of the room on a couple of sofas and ordered some drinks. Rush couldn't have anything with alcohol because he was only 17, Shadow couldn't buy any since no one believed he was of age, but Sonic or Shade got it for him instead.

Shadow decided it was time to tell them all what had happened to him, if he didn't tell it would come up somwhere else, so it was best if it came from him. "You will not beleive what I've been through this week." Shadow sighed when they recieved their drinks. The three of them looked at him interestedly. "I feel so humiliated..." he sighed nervously. "I've been... made to go to school." he said through gritted teeth, getting the worse over with.

"How?" Shade asked him with wide eyes. Sonic and Rush's mouths gaped open.

"I... went to the school to sort out Bless' behaviour, when I went to see the head teacher he thought I was Bless' age and was just a friend. Bless got punnished for trying to trick the school into thinking I'm her parent..." he began to explain. "Even though I really am." he added through gritted teeth angrily, then sighed. "And I was sighned up to go to school there, I'm in the same class as my own daughter."

There was a silence in the group, then Sonic burst out laughing. Shadow's eyes narrowed at him. "Shut the fuck up Sonic." Shadow growled. Sonic woulnd't stop laughing. "I'm warning you!" Shadow yelled with his fist up. Sonic continued to laugh, Shadow went to punch Sonic however-

"Not so fast there, rodent." came a familiar, annoying voice. Shadow looked up to see Mr Towers. His eyes widened and his ears flopped. "So, this is how you spend your time outside of school. In a pub." he teased.

"Well, don't you... since you're here?" Shadow said irritably, putting his fists down, Sonic wouldn't get a beating today.

"Well, the difference is that, I am an adult, and you are not, and there you are drinking alcohol. I suggest that you leave immeadeatly." he said while looking down on Shadow.

"Who's going to make me?" Shadow said grumpily and folded his arms, showing no signs of moving from his seat. Then, from behind Mr Towers, stepped out Commander Towers. Shadow's eyes widened again, he cursed under his breath and froze on the spot.

"Are you causing a problem vermin?" he asked while getting out his gun.

"N-no sir." Shadow stuttered, he then gulped down the rest of his drink and ran out of the door. Sonic, Rush and Shade all looked at them with annoyed expressions.

"Way to ruin a good day out, bastards." Rush said and got up to leave. Sonic and Shade followed after Shadow and Rush.

**Lucy Labrador**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hypocritical Parent**

**Chapter 4**

"Rodent! If I see you with alcohol or anywhere near a pub or bar again I will remove the cursed drug from you myself!" Mr Tower's voice boomed throughout the school halls from his office, that monday morning.

Several minutes later Shadow walked out and the students nearby felt sorry for him, anyone who had been told off by the head teacher gained sympathy from all nearby, whether they were loved or hated. Shadow sighed, looking truly despaired as though he had been tormented all of his life, he walked to his form room.

He arrived right before the bell to see Bless in her seat as well as many others. Bless was looking at the door worriedly before he had arrived, when Shadow arrived just as the bell was going, Shadow noticed that she was sighing with relief, as though she was worried that he would be late.

As Shadow sat down he wished that he had done something beforehand. Since he had to get up earlier that morning to give himself time to walk to school instead using chaos control, Shadow had drunk a cup of strong coffee to keep himself awake. That coffee, of course, was ready to come out the other side but Shadow was stuck in a classroom. The urgent hedgehog sat uncomfortably, looking at the clock, then looking at Bless. She looked okay, but Shadow had let her have coffee too that morning, so surely she would be in the same situation soon enough.

Even though she wasn't showing it, Shadow knew that Bless needed it since she put up her hand and asked the strict human teacher if she could go to the toilet. Of course, she was denied so would have to wait another ten minutes or so until they went to the first lesson.

Shadow sighed and tried to sit as comfortably as possible while he waited, he didn't want to cross his legs or make it obvious to the room full of students that wouldn't hesitate to point, laugh and make fun of him.

Five minutes passed, but that felt like eternity to him. "Ugh... I'm not putting myself through unecessary comfort." Shadow grumbled to himself. He then got up.

"Sit down hedgehog!" The teacher yelled from the front of the class.

"No, I need to go and do something." Shadow said firmly, fists were forming by his sides. He began to walk to the door.

"I'm warning you!" The teacher yelled again, she began to walk towards the door to stop him from getting out. Shadow rushed towards it and escaped. "You'd better get back here now before I call Mr Towers!" she screamed to him.

"I don't give a shit!" Shadow called back and ran towards the nearest toilets.

"What did I just hear come out of your mouth rodent!?"

Shadow stopped on the spot and turned around to see Mr Towers. "Holy Chaos..." Shadow hissed to himself. If he were to submit to him now, he would never get to the toilets in time, but if he were to run he would be in even more trouble. The furious man was walking over to him quickly, in a split second Shadow decided he would run for it!

Shadow charged down the corridor at a high-speed, he felt his need get more urgent while he ran since he was moving his pelvic area but it was the only way to get away from Mr Towers. He eventually got to the last corner, skidded to stop and ran into the boy's toilets.

Thankfully there was noone else in the room so Shadow could relive himself in peace and without embarrassment, or so he thought. As he was letting go against a urinal on the back wall, Mr Towers stormed into the room.

Shadow froze up and so did his flow. His eyes widened and he turned his head to look over his shoulder, he immediately turned to look away from Mr Towers and try to block him out but it was no use. The head teacher slowly walked towards him, the sounds of his firm footsteps hitting the tiles floor echoed through the room. Shadow gave a slight start when Towers put his hand on Shadow's shoulder and wrapped his fingers around it. "I'm giving you ten seconds to do your business, then you're coming with me." He said ominously.

Shadow's cheeks began to burn up, he could never 'do his business' in front of anyone let alone Mr Towers, who still had his hand on the shaken hedgehog's shoulder. Shadow's tail went between his legs and a quiet whimper sounded from his throat. "Is there a problem with that?"

Shadow shook his head sheepishly and gave up, he would have to finnish the job later. "You can spend the morning with me in my office..." Mr Towers said sinisterly and led Shadow out of the toilets and down the hallway.

While they made their way the school bell went for first lesson and all of the students piled out of their classrooms. This meant that on the way to the Head Teacher's office Shadow passed Bless, he looked with an expression of shame and humiliation, his cheeks were a deep red and his were narrowed in frustration.

Bless looked at her father nervously, she hadn't seen him look that ticked off in a long time, she had a feeling that she would get snapped at by him at some point in the day.

Shadow watched as Bless made her way to some toilets herself, he turned around and followed her movements until she turned the corner, soon after Shadow was shoved into the office and made to sit down in the chair. That moment, was when his urge came back, he crossed his arms, sighed and looked down at his knees in shame.

"Hopefully you'll never leave the classroom during the designated hours again." Mr Towers teased.

"So, you're teaching me not to leave the classroom during class time... by keeping me out of class... _during_ class time." Shadow asked in disbelief, not looking up or making any eye contact. "And I thought teachers were supposed to be smart."

Towers slammed his hand against his desk, Shadow looked up at him. "Don't you dare try to make a mockery of me." Towers roared.

"I wasn't _trying_ to make a mockery of you." Shadow said through gritted teeth. Mr Tower's raised an eyebrow. "I _did_ make a mockery of you." a sly smile crept upon Shadow's face.

Shadow was hit in the face with a hard back book that Mr Towers had just picked up from his desk. Shadow gasp in pain as he was striked on the side of his muzzle. "You _will_ learn to behave."

"Never..." Shadow growled through his teeth which were gritted together tightly, he was now making fists at his sides. His eyes were narrowed in fury and he was looking up at Towers while giving a slight shake, the hit had startled him.

"This isn't prison, rodent, there is no need to act hard." Mr Towers yelled at him, drops of spit coming out of his mouth while he did so, one of them hit Shadow on the forehead. The hedgehog's eyes widened when he felt the wet drop hit his fur.

"Disgusting..." Shadow grumbled and shook it off.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Shadow growled. He went back to crossing his arms and sulking.

"You're nothing but a show off and a juvenile piece of vermin." Towers teased and sat down at his desk again. "I'm going to be keeping you in here all day, you can be my assistant."

Shadow scoffed and looked to the side, a look of pure hatred on his face. Then he thought of something. "Will I still get my breaks?" Shadow asked him.

"By law, I have to give you breaks." Towers said.

"W-what?" Shadow asked in disbelief. "So... by law you can give me breaks but... you're allowed to hit me?"

"Yes, Humans have the power to hit mobians... however, mobians cannot hit Humans." he warned. Shadow's mouth gaped open, then he had a question.

"What if they're part of the military or other law keeping force?" Shadow asked.

"Oh... well, in that case, a Mobian can hit a human I suppose, if they're not keeping the law or if they see fit."

"What if they used to be?" Shadow asked a little more reluctantly.

"Hmm? Well, no since they no longer have the licence to." he said smartly.

Shadow mentally cursed to himself, he should have shouldn't have quit his job, he should have stayed with GUN. "Why ask that question?" Mr Towers said, getting suspicious.

"I know someone who used to be in the military. I was just wondering." Shadow said with no sign of hesitation or thought, hopefully that was good enough for Towers to believe him.

At break time Shadow didn't bother to run down the halls to the toilet, he just walked as usual with his miserable look. As he turned a corner he looked to his side to notice Bless, but she wasn't alone, she was with someone.

On the dark side of the corridor she was standing by the wall with another boy. Shadow noticed the smug look on the boy's face and Bless' giggles,_ they were flirting_! Shadow was furious, his eyes were full of rage and his fists got tighter and tighter, then walked over to the two of them. Bless turned around in fear as she heard the distinct sound of metal shoes hitting the stone floor of the corridors, shoes that could only belong to her father, who looked angry.

The boy also looked at Shadow as he was coming towards them. "Hey... are you two brother and sister or something?" he asked but didn't get an answer, he got a punch to the face instead. Shadow then took Bless by the arm and dragged her away.

"DAD!" she screamed.

Several students that were passing them in the hallway looked at the two of them so Shadow got the himself and Bless out of there as fast as he could, he didn't want people questioning him as to why she called him Dad. Once they were out of sight from everyone else, Shadow could speak to his daughter.

"What was that?" he asked her angrily.

"It was just a boy." Bless said with attitude.

"Who _is_?" Shadow asked while folding his arms and waited for an answer.

"I... don't know... I just know that he's a couple of years ahead of me."

"NO WAY!" Shadow yelled. "That's too big of an age difference, he could hurt you!" Shadow yelled, he wasn't so much angry at Bless, just worried and over protective.

"He won't, we're in school, it's safe here." Bless said not sounding bothered.

"What if he were to ask you out on the date? Would you do _that_ in school?" Shadow hissed. Bless just sighed and rolled her eyes. "I don't want to see you flirting with a boy older _or_ younger than you again." Bless was furious, she decided she would play with her father's mind, for payback.

"So... dad. When you and mum were on the ARK... didn't you have this fifteen year old body?" Bless asked while pointing to him, there was slight mischief in her voice. Shadow nodded slowly and reluctantly. "And mum was like... 12 at the time... wasn't she?" Bless added. Shadow nodded again. "So that's... three years age difference."

Shadow narrowed his eyes. "That's different." he said.

"Is it though?" Bless asked. Shadow was unable to come up with anything, so he gave up and walked away. "So surely I can flirt with boys with up to a three years age difference then?!" She called to him as he walked away. Shadow didn't answer. "And they can be human!" she added. Shadow's hands became fists at his sides, that was even worse to bear.

The grumpy hedgehog got back inside and made his way back to where he was before so he could find himself a toilet again. "Ahh, hedgehog, there you are. Surely that was enough time to do what you had to do."

Shadow's ears drooped to the sides of his head as the shadow of Mr Towers loomed over him from behind as he heard his sinister voice. Shadow shook his head. "I got side tracked." Shadow said and continued to walk away.

"Oh no you don't." Towers said, reached out and grabbed Shadow by the shoulder. The urgent hedgehog turned around to face him.

"Come on! I need to finnish what I started nearly three hours ago." Shadow growled, his cheeks went a deep shade of red again.

"I'm giving you two minutes." Towers said, Shadow ran off around the corner and out of the desperate hedgehog got into the boy's toilets again he was relieved to be there. He would not leave until he was finished.

At the end of the school day, Shadow was kept behind for an after school detention. Bless couldn't wait to get home to tell her mum that Shadow had gotten a second detention on his second day of school.

Meanwhile, Shadow sat in the hall looking miserable. He would have to get himself out of this, surely there would be someone who could prove to Mr Towers that Shadow wasn't just a teenager. But the only person who knew that Shadow was older than he looked and Mr Towers would trust was... The Commander.

**Oh dear, Shadow's going to have a hard time getting The Commander to help him.**

**Lucy Labrador**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hypocritical Parent**

**Chapter 5**

After his detention that day, Shadow set out on his quest to get help from The Commander. He decided he would go home first and let Maria know what he would do so that she wouldn't be worried about his absence.

When Shadow walked through the front door, Maria was waiting in the hallway for him impatiently. "Oh, Hi there Maria." Shadow said, he sounded slightly unnerved since he saw the angry look on her face. "Oh yes... I did get into trouble again today-"

"All of these years you have endlessly punished our daughter for getting into trouble at school when you are just as bad as her!" Maria yelled. Shadow's eyes widened and he stepped back and leant against the door in fear of his angry wife.

"Yeah, I know, that's why I took away all of her punishments. She's free now, I ungrounded her permanently!" Shadow exclaimed.

"Yes, but I don't think that's good enough, you should be grounded!" Maria yelled.

"What!?" Shadow cried out. "No way Maria, you can't ground me, I'm the man of this house, I'm superior to you-"

Shadow's eye twitched and his voice seemed to disappear, Maria looked furious. Shadow immediately regret his words. "Why you sexist little-" Maria slapped him in the face.

Shadow cowered back and held his cheek in pain. "Maria, I've never seen you like this before. You must be pretty upset about something." Shadow said in concern for his wife, but also for himself.

"Don't try to redeem yourself. You're grounded until I see fit." Maria said and stormed off into the kitchen. Shadow's mouth gaped open.

"This can't be happening, Maria, you can't ground me, I have stuff to do!" Shadow yelled urgently and ran after her. Shadow stormed into the kitchen, a look of shock and remorse on his face. "Maria... I have to go out tonight, I need to do something." Shadow said frantically. Maria stubbornly didn't let this change her mind. She just stood by the table with her arms crossed, still looking angry. "Maariiaa..." Shadow whined. "Come on..." he groaned. "This is important, you have to let me ouuuut."

"Stop whining." she said.

"But this is serious." Shadow growled.

"You can do it tomorrow night!" Maria yelled.

"But I can't take another day of school, I have to go and see The Commander today!" Shadow argued.

"Why are you going to see him?" Maria asked.

"He's the Head Teacher's brother, he can tell Mr Towers that I am an adult and that I don't have to be in school." Shadow explained, hoping Maria would let him out after hearing an explanation.

"Why would The Commander help you? He doesn't like you Shadow. You're more likely to end up with a prison sentence than a ticket out of school." Maria said.

"I have to try. If I bargained with him, you know, offer him something in return, then perhaps he'll do it." Shadow said with determination.

"I don't think so Shadow." Maria said, sounding worried for him.

"I have to try." he said strongly. "Tonight." he added.

"Nope." she said simply and left the room. Shadow's mouth gaped open again, he couldn't believe that he had been grounded by his own wife.

Shadow knew that he shouldn't challenge Maria's words, so he didn't try to escape the house that night. He sat alone in the bedroom and pondered to himself. "I can take one more day of school." Shadow tried to assure himself. "I'd rather not though. How do I get out of school tomorrow?" he asked himself. "I can't act sick since I'm the ultimate life form, I never get sick and Maria knows that so she'll never believe me." Shadow sighed. "I know. I'll go to The Commander before school." he said, feeling exhilarated from getting such a brilliant idea. "After all, he is The Commander so surely he'll be in work earlier than school starts." he said and couldn't wait for the next morning.

When Shadow left at 7 o'clock that morning, Maria didn't know a thing since she was still in bed so Shadow had a lucky escape, no one knew that he was gone, perhaps he would be done with his mission soon so he could get back to the house before Bless had to leave for school.

Shadow felt nervous as he stepped onto the territory of GUN for the first time in years, he hated that place. "To think that I used to work here... with Rouge." Shadow said. "I wonder if she even works here anymore, I doubt it." he scoffed and stepped inside the main building.

"Hey there handsome, long time no see."

Shadow sighed and looked to the wall on his right, Rouge was there leaning against it. She looked as though she was in her early twenties when in fact she was reaching her late thirties. "Hey there, Rouge." Shadow sighed. "You looked as if you haven't aged a bit since I saw you last."

"So do you." She joked and folded her arms arrogantly.

"Hmm... well, you know why that is." Shadow said, not finding the joke funny. "I need to see The Commander." Shadow told her.

"Are you looking to get your job back after all of these years? I'm afraid The Commander won't be hiring."

"I don't want my job back, Rouge. I just need to speak to him." Shadow said, he was beginning to get annoyed with his old companion.

"If you say so." She scoffed. "I'll take you to him."

"Thank You." Shadow said insincerely, she grabbed his wrist firmly and suddenly, it made Shadow give a slight start which he hoped Rouge hadn't noticed.

The anxious hedgehog was led to The Commander's office. Rouge knocked on the door. "Who is it?" came The Commander's voice.

"It's me Rouge. I have an old friend who wants to see you!" Rouge yelled so that The Commander could hear through the door.

"Come in." The Commander grumbled. Rouge opened the door and pushed Shadow inside.

"Good luck." She said and shut it while Shadow was inside.

"What? Rouge, don't leave me here!" Shadow panicked.

"What do you want vermin?" The Commander asked and walked over to him. Shadow couldn't help but notice that pistol sticking out of his pocket, it made him feel even more nervous.

"I... need to ask you a favour." Shadow said and gulped.

"Why would I do anything for you?" Commander Towers asked sounding annoyed.

"I'll give you something in return, I promise." Shadow said urgently. "You have to do this for me... it's just one tiny thing, it won't take much time an effort." Shadow tried to entice him.

"What is it?" The Commander asked ominously, this made Shadow feel even more nervous, what if he were to refuse outright to do this.

"I... need you to go to your brother and tell him that I'm not a kid and that I'm an adult." Shadow said. The Commander looked confused. "You're the only person who knows this who he will believe. I don't have any form of ID since I quit working here and gave my GUN badge back so he won't believe that fact that I'm an adult." Shadow said and sighed. "Which is why... he made me go to school."

"And why would I do this for you again?" The Commander asked.

"Because... I need to get out of there. School is a horrible place to be and I'll do anything for you to help me!" Shadow exclaimed.

"Hmm... so, what will I want you to do in return?" The Commander said sinisterly. Shadow gulped, he knew it would be something bad. "I'll think of something. I'll do it hedgehog." he said. Shadow gave a sigh of relief. "But you must do as I tell you afterwards... or I'll be sending you for an eternal sentence on prison island."

"Yes of course. Nothing you make me do could be worse than going to school." Shadow said desperately, he wanted to get out of school badly.

"I'll call him now. Consider yourself a school leaver Shadow." The Commander said and walked over to his desk to pick up the phone. Shadow smiled and turned to leave. "Ah! You're not leaving yet, rodent." The Commander warned and called Mr Towers.

Shadow listened as The Commander told his brother about who Shadow really was and his real age. When The Commander put the phone down, Shadow looked at him nervously. "It's fine, you're no longer a student anymore Shadow." The Commander said. Shadow gave another sigh of relief, it was definitely over.

"Thank you so much." Shadow said.

"Don't thank me. You'll be cursing me in a second." The Commander said sinisterly. Shadow's ears drooped to the sides of his head, it sounded like he would be made to do some awful things. "Come back to GUN Shadow." he said.

"No way!" Shadow yelled and bared his fangs.

"I can always call my brother back and tell him I made a mistake, Shadow." The Commander yelled.

"I thought you were going to put me on prison island if I didn't do as I was told." Shadow said sounding confused.

"Yes I did but it seems to me that you fear school a lot more than you do imprisonment." The Commander said. Shadow narrowed his eyes then nodded, he had to agree, he did in fact fear school more than he feared going back to prison island. "So, will you work for me again?" The Commander asked.

"Yes." Shadow said firmly.

"Good, I needed someone to take over this place, I am getting old you know." The Commander said. Shadow's mouth gaped open again.

"What?!" Shadow exclaimed and stumbled back in shock. "You have to be joking." he growled.

"I'm not. I'm serious. GUN is yours now." The Commander said, he took off one of his badges and gave it to Shadow.

"Why would you do this... I thought you hated me... you think I'm dangerous, _you'd_ think that I would do damage to the world by running a military." Shadow said in confusion. "Thank you." he said, actually sounding happy for once.

"Believe me, this job is no fun. All of the soldiers hate you and you're blamed for every little mistake everyone in the military makes." The Commander said. Shadow's eyes widened.

"I-I don't want to anymore-" Shadow couldn't even finnish his sentence before the old man left. "Damn it!"

So instead of sitting in a classroom all day getting told off by teachers and getting bullied by students, Shadow had to sit in an office all day getting told off by people of higher authority while getting bullied by soldiers.

One day when Shadow came home late, nearly midnight, Bless was only walking down the path from being out with her friends all night. When she saw Shadow she froze in fear, he looked at her but took no notice, he just sighed and went inside. He wouldn't bother to tell Bless off for being home late since he was late himself. He knew it was no use being a hypocritical parent.

**Thanks for reading. I have many more story ideas to come.**

**Lucy Labrador**


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